A Warning Against Nationalizing Defense Contractors

There are growing reports that the U.S. government is considering taking ownership stakes in major defense contractors. To many, this may seem like a pragmatic solution to secure supply chains or lower costs—but such a move cuts far deeper than economics. It strikes at the heart of freedom, economic liberty, and the foundational principle that power must always be checked.

At Let.Live, we believe that liberty is not just the freedom to speak or worship or assemble—it is also the freedom to produce, to compete, and to refuse participation in state-sanctioned coercion. When the government becomes both the buyer and the owner of arms, it crosses a dangerous threshold. And history warns us clearly: that road leads to fascism.

Nationalization and the Machinery of Tyranny

One of the lesser-known facts of Nazi Germany’s rise is how the regime systematically brought armaments and heavy industries under state control. Initially cloaked in nationalist rhetoric and economic necessity, these moves quickly transformed independent companies into state tools. Once the government held the purse strings and the factory keys, private dissent dried up, innovation gave way to obedience, and ethics vanished under the jackboot of state demands.

When states control the means of war, they rarely stop at manufacturing. They dictate who gets the contracts, who builds what, and how dissent is handled. And when no independent defense sector exists, the military-industrial complex no longer lobbies government—it becomes government. That is the textbook definition of fascism: a fusion of corporate and state power, where democratic input and market forces are replaced by autocratic control.

The Free Market is the Guardrail

Critics of the defense industry have valid concerns—about profiteering, lobbying, and inefficiencies—but nationalization is not the answer. A better path is more competition, more transparency, and more freedom of access. If lowering costs is the goal, why not allow American citizens to purchase military-grade hardware components from foreign suppliers? If efficiency is the issue, why not open bidding to smaller, innovative players and reduce regulatory red tape that favors megacorporations?

Let.Live believes in freedom through openness, not control through consolidation. Once the government owns your means of production, it can dictate your values, your output, and your limits. The free market, flawed as it may be, still allows alternatives. Nationalized industries do not.

Peace Requires Independent Power

The Founders feared the standing army—but they feared even more the concentration of power. Our system was designed with checks and balances because power, left unchecked, always corrupts. When defense companies rely entirely on government contracts, they already dance close to the flame. Giving the government ownership stakes crosses into authoritarian territory.

If we want peace, prosperity, and liberty, we must decentralize power—not entrench it. We must ensure that no government can build the weapons and silence the voices that object to their use. Let.Live stands firmly against this quiet march toward militarized central planning. America cannot afford to forget that freedom isn’t just what we defend—it’s how we defend it.